A few interesting notes up front:- Gear is roughly sorted for BiS ranking, based first on item level, and then based on the assumption mastery > dodge/parry > hit/expertise.- In essence, all rare quality (blue) items are ilvl 346, and drop in heroic 5-man instances (or are purchased in various manners). All epics are ilvl 359 (new Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub epics are 353, per patch 4.1). There do not appear to be rare and epic quality items of the same item level that I can see; this is unlike Wrath, where starter dungeon blues were ilvl 200 and starter dungeon epics were epic ilvl 200. Non-heroic 5-man instances drop blues that generally vary from ilvl 319 to 333, depending on the level of the instance. I have extended the list to include i333 drops as well (they are listed in a lighter shade of blue), but not the lower stuff. Ilvl for gear is also listed in brackets in front of each line for easier reference.- This list was generated with search functions on cata.wowhead.com. Accordingly, it is possible I missed an item. If I did, please let me know. In part to define the search functions, and also for general discussion, I would note that I assumed gear is tank gear if it did NOT have Intellect, Spirit, Crit, or Haste, as those are primarily holy and retribution stats. Yes, there are some crit/haste pieces that a tank might use for threat; I have not included them here. On the other hand, there are pieces of gear that are hit/expertise, hit/mastery, or expertise/mastery, that could arguably be valid for both a tank and a ret paladin; given that the gear does not have any of the proscribed stats, I have still included it on this list.- I've had a lot of interest from warrior and DK tanks using this list as a guide as well; consequently, I have decided to update it to include 2H weapons as well. Just to accomodate those dirty DKs. Fellow tankadins, please forgive me.

Ok! Whew! With all of that preface out of the way, let's get to the good stuff - the gear list, and the discussion of progression process/approach included thereafter. All items are listed showing the item itself (with item link), the source of the item, and the way itemization is allocated to the item between dodge, parry, mastery, hit, expertise, and bonus strength.

* This mace is noticeably below item budget in strength, and appears to have a higher item budget in other stats to compensate** This is the only current level 85 tank weapon that is not a standardized 2.6 weapon swing speed; it is a 2.8 swing speed

** Although this list is generally restricted only to non-agility gear, these trinkets are notable options nonetheless given that agility does have a 75% conversion rate to dodge, and there are few other "avoidance"-based trinkets that use dodge or agility this effectively.

So with a few lengthy posts of gear lists as a preface, let's look at making some decisions. But first, one more brief wall of text, with a few caveats up front about my own assumptions for this process, as we all have 'em... - In the original version of this guide, I gave no preference to which gear has dodge vs parry vs mastery vs hit vs expertise. My assumption was that with reforging, you can always shift to reduce what you have too much of, and get more of what you need. However, in this updated version, I have given some priorization, as follows: mastery > dodge/parry > hit/expertise. Basically, I still assume you will reforge hit/expertise to mastery where necessary, but avoid it if possible.- Given Theck's analysis on the rather minimal relative value of strength on gear, I have generally downplayed the value of gear that has extra itemization points spent in strength, versus gear that has the base minimum of strength for its associated ilvl where the points are "better" spent in the secondary survival stats.- In case you're still concerned about balancing gear stats based on the itemization itself, I have noted the primary stats on each piece of gear. Gear drops generally have 2 base stats - strength and stamina - and two additional stats that will be either dodge, parry, mastery, hit, or expertise.- I am assuming that you will have to run some regular dungeons before proceeding into the heroic dungeons. I have not generated a pre-heroic-5-man-dungeons list at this point.

So with all that being said...

You're level 85 and you want to gear up. What's first:

Justice PointsJustice Points will be the bread and butter of your gearing up process. According to the original Blizzard blue post guidance from Nethaera, you were going to earn 75 Justice Points for doing a daily random regular 5-man dungeon, and 75 Justice Points for each heroic boss in a heroic 5-man. Ultimately, these values were implemented at 70 per random regular and 70 per heroic boss. Notably, the bonus for doing the daily random heroic 5-man dungeon is not more Justice Points, but is 70 Valor Points. If you've already done your first daily random heroic, each additional random heroic gives you an extra 70 bonus Justice Points for making it a random; or you can queue for a specific dungeon and forgo the 70 bonus points (but still get 70 points per boss).

This means that a few regular 5-man dungeons may help you gear up a little with some i333 gear (see further discussion of 5-man dungeons below), but the focus for Justice Points is on heroic 5-mans. Given most dungeons have 4-5 bosses or so (a couple have more or less), this means you're looking at 280 - 350 Justice Points per run (plus another 70 Justice Point bonus if it's a random heroic after completing the initial daily random). Given that most pieces of gear cost 1650 - 2200 points (except the shield and neck, which are less), anticipate that you will need to run an average of 5-7 heroics to get one piece of gear.

Fortunately, though, you were able to enter Cataclysm with up to 4,000 Justice Points, which will provide you an initial reserve to spend from.

So upon reaching level 85, you have a chance to spend your hopefully-4,000-capped Justice Points. As you will see below, these points appear best spent on core body armor. The off pieces (neck/back/rings/etc.) can be filled elsewhere. Given 4,000 points, you can buy:- Helm OR Legs (2,200 points for either) AND- Shoulders OR Hands (1,650 points for either)

Vexryn's pick: Given a few options for getting helms from instances, including one from Halls of Origination (which you will want to run a lot as a tank), I plan to start with the Greaves of Splendor first. Your only alternative for i346 legs drops from Throne of the Tides, which doesn't have a lot else for you.Vexryn's pick (part 2): Given a choice between shoulders and hands, I will probably lean towards the shoulders, as there are gloves that drop in Halls of Origination (yes, that place again) with awesome itemization (avoidance + mastery), and also a choice from Shadowfang Keep (which has a few decent pieces for tanks). Given the choice of two shoulder pieces, I plan to invest in Sunburnt Pauldrons. The other shoulder option for Justice Points - Pauldrons of the High Requiem - is much more of a threat piece (or really, a ret piece!), with strength, hit, and expertise. For now, I'm just worried about not being dead. If Blizzard wanted me to gear more for threat, they wouldn't give me so many taunt buttons. Exception to the Rule: The caveat to the above is to judge your pre-85 gear accordingly. If the helm is a much bigger upgrade for you than the legs (perhaps you grabbed the nicely itemized Stone-Wrapped Greaves with Earthen Ring Honored rep (which you got if you did Vash'jir as your starter zone), and/or the hands are a bigger upgrade than the shoulders, go for the biggest upgrade first (especially since the Justice Point gloves are also very nicely itemized with avoidance/mastery). Ultimately, you may use justice points for any/all four of these slots for viable gear choices, as none of these gear slots (except shoulders!) have epics to choose from until you get to raids (at least based on the current gear list).2nd Exception to the Rule: Engineers may consider the Reinforced Bio-Optic Killshades helm in lieu of the Justice Point version.3rd Exception to the Rule: If you're looking to be a big spender when gearing up, there are two potential epic shoulder options for you, that are almost identically itemized: Heaving Plates of Protection is a BoE epic trash drop from the Bastion of Twilight you might find on the Auction House, and Pauldrons of Edward the Odd is a comparable epic world drop. If you're going to buy one of these (likely 10k-25k gold on most servers), you'll probably buy the nicely itemized Justice Point gloves instead of shoulders.

After the initial pieces of gear, running chain heroics will still be how you continue to gear up. Plan to use Justice Points to buy i346 gear for almost all slots - there is something for almost every slot except Wrist, Feet, Rings, Trinkets, and a Weapon - to fill in whatever is not dropping for you. However, in truth you may end out filling a lot of gear with drops initially, given the need to run 5-7 heroics to get one piece of gear.

ReputationReputations are a very big deal for the gearing-up tank. Short of dropping big gold on crafted or BoE epics (discussed further below), this is where your pre-raid epics come from, in addition to the key head and shoulder enchants that rely on reputation (as with Wrath). In fact, given the incredibly long Valor Point grind (also discussed further below), Exalted reputation epics will likely be your only pre-raid epics. In addition, several reputations also give you useful i346 gear at Revered, and a few give relevant options at Honored (although you may be Honored already just from quest grinding to level 85). As a sidenote, the fact that reputations are so important means that if you're looking to be raid-ready quickly at level 85, plan to quest your way there, as you'll probably really appreciate the reputation gains while you're leveling (as opposed to grinding to level 85 through instances or BGs).

As for the reputations themselves...

Two reputations - Guardians of Hyjal and Hellscream's Reach (or Baradin's Wardens if you're Alliance) - don't give any viable heroics/raid quality pieces until you grind all the way to exalted. Hellscream's Reach/Baradin's Wardens offers Mirror of Broken Images, which has a phenomenal on-use effect for some bosses that is totally useless for others. Notably, given the conversion of agility to 75% of its value as dodge, the Unsolvable Riddle is also a nice Hellscream's Reach rep trinket. Each one will run you 100 of the Tol Barad Commendations, although you'll have more than that just by doing the dailies and winning Tol Barad battles that gets you to Exalted in the first place. Alternatively, the Hyjal rep does give you the Wrap of the Great Turtle back piece, which is a phenomenally well itemized back piece that will stick with you until heroic raids; in other words, Hyjal may be worth considering, even if you get no payoff until Exalted.

Gear-wise, Therazane rep only gives you a chance at the i346 Felsen's Ring of Resolve, but that is a very nicely itemized ring. In addition, Therazane rep also gives you the Cataclysm version of shoulder enchants, and even the basic Honored Lesser Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz is a material upgrade, providing you an extra +23 stamina over the old exalted Sons of Hodir shoulder enchant. Ultimately, you will grind Therazane to Exalted for the Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz. If you level through Deepholme, you'll probably be close to Revered to buy the ring by the time you're level 85 anyway, though, so at worst it's just a few days of Therazane daily quests and perhaps 1-2 heroics with a tabard on to hit Revred; after that, though, the Exalted grind is a low priority as far as I'm concerned. Gearing up first, there are plenty of other options for Exalted reputation grinds, and the upgrade for a shoulder enchant is nice, but not worth much of an early diversion in my opinion. If you're close to Revered rep with Therazane from questing, it's worth a quick diversion to Revered for the ring, on top of the shoulder enchant you'll have at Honored, but at that point I'd stop and prioritize elsewhere in the early grind process.

Also notable is the Earthen Ring rep grind, which leaves you nothing in the way of i346+ gear, but has another core element that any tank must ultimately get: Arcanum of the Earthen Ring at Revered. It is a hefty upgrade over the Wrath head enchant (in fact, much more of an upgrade than going from Sons of Hodir exalted shoulder enchants to Therazane Honored), so if you're going to push for gear enchant upgrades, to say the least Earthen Ring Revered is far more of a benefit than Therazane Honored. As a sidenote, there is a slight extra nod to the Earthen Ring as an early rep grind, as you can also pick up Stone-Wrapped Greaves at Honored, a decent i333 leg option if you're not spending Justice Points on legs right way. If you level in Vashj'ir, you'll be most of the way there already. If you did your level 80-81 grind in Hyjal, though, you may wait a while to come back to this one.

If you're looking for a big payoff for both i346 and i359 gear, you have two viable choices for your first reputation grind: either the Dragonmaw/Wildhammer Clan, or the Ramkahen. The first gives you a nice Grinning Fang Helm / Crown of Wing helm at Revered and the beautifully itemized epic Boots of the Sullen Rock at Exalted, while the Ramkahen provide you with an i346 ring - the Red Rock Band - and some epic wrists: Sandguard Bracers.

Vexryn's choice: Given the options, my preference is to go with Dragonmaw/Wildhammer Clan as an initial grind. The ring at Ramkahen Revered is appealing, but there are other ring options, and the first boss in Bastion of Twilight - Halfus - drops Bracers of Impossible Strength, which are better than the Ramkahen bracers anyway, and Halfus will likely be one of your first stops when you start raiding. On the other hand, the Dragonmaw/Wildhammer Exalted Boots of the Sullen Rock / Gryphon Rider's Boots are great and will stick with you a long time - arguably better than the Valor Point Rock Furrow Boots anyway. And although the Dragonmaw Helm is not the best itemization, lacking Mastery and including Expertise, your alternative options aren't that much better anyway, as you'll have to wait for raid bosses to get a helm with Mastery.

Once you're done with the Dragonmaw, you'll probably choose to either polish off side reputations, such as Earthen Ring to Revered for the helm and Therazane to Revered for the ring, or go right on for another epic. The next Exalted grind should probably be Guardians of Hyjal for the cloak. (Notably, if you leveled in Hyjal Summit, you might choose to do Hyjal Exalted rep first, as you'll probably be a lot closer than you will be to Dragonmaw Exalted from the Twilight Highlands quests).

The bottom line is that given the long, long path to Valor Point off-pieces, if you're really chain-grinding a lot of 5-man heroics, except Exalted reputation epics to be good quality fillers until you are getting raid epics or Valor Point gear more directly.

Valor PointsYou won't have Valor Points right away, but you'll have to plan what to buy when the time comes. Blizzard gives us 5 slot choices - cloak (2 options), boots, a ring, a relic, and a trinket - in addition to three pieces of Tier 11 (legs, gloves, and chest). All gear purchased with Valor Points is epic i359 quality, which means that aside from slight itemization differences, it's as good as you're going to get in a raid until/unless you're doing heroic raids for the i372 heroic version of raid gear.

However, the Valor Points will come very slowly early on. You will receive 70 Valor Points for doing a daily random heroic 5-man dungeon, but as of now that is the only source of pre-raid Valor Points aside from the Tol Barad weekly boss (who also gives a chance at Tier 11 legs or gloves). Remaining points will accumulate during raiding itself, where you will receive 70 Valor Points per 10-man boss and 90 Valor Points per 25-man raid boss. At this time, there are no Valor points available outside of the first daily random heroic, the Tol Barad boss, and standard raid bosses (i.e., there is no weekly raid quest). Accordingly, at 70 points per day, it will be a while until you can put your Valor points to use. 10 days of daily randoms gets you 700 Valor Points for a Libram/Relic; it will take you over 3 weeks to get a pair of boots or Tier 11 gloves, and just over a month (31 days) of daily random 5-man dungeons to get a chest or leg piece of Tier 11 gear for 2200 Valor Points.

Bear in mind that gearing up for Valor Points will also be throttled; there is a weekly cap for Valor Points, which will become relevant once you start raiding. Given 12 raid bosses at 90 points each for 25-man, there will be 1080 Valor Points available from raiding, plus 490 by doing 7 daily random 5-man dungeons. With a cap of 1250 Valor Points per week, once you're able to clear most raids, you're still looking at not much more than a piece of valor gear (or buying Tier 11 pieces) more than once every other week.

On the other hand, it's notable that getting Tier 11 gear will be different than prior systems. As it is currently implemented, it appears that the head and shoulders will be obtained via Helm of the Forlorn Conqueror and Mantle of the Forlorn Conqueror tokens which drop from raid end bosses (shoulder tokens from Cho'gall, head tokens from Nefarian). On the other hand, the chest, gloves, and legs will be only available from Valor Points (with gloves and legs also dropping from the Tol Barad weekly boss). So if you want your 4-piece Tier 11 set, you will ultimately be buying 2-3 pieces of tier gear for Valor Points (or getting lucky in Tol Barad), and trying for the rest via drops.

Given the anticipated especially slow pace of accumulated Valor Points for epics, though, and the fact that you'll probably be stepping into raids by the time you've bought 1 piece (or even before you buy your first Valor Points gear), I think there are only two choices:

Vexryn's option #1: Relic of Khaz-Goroth - It's epic. It's (relatively) cheap - you can get it in 10 days of dailies. And it's the only epic libram/relic in game, so you'll be buying something early that will not be replaced until patch 4.1 with a brand new tier of content.

Vexryn's option #2: If you don't purchase the Relic of Khaz-Goroth, there I thin there's really only one other good alternative: start saving up for Tier 11 gear. Your first piece will cost you 2200 Valor Points (or 1650 Valor Points if you go for the gloves initially), which means realistically you won't be seeing it until you're actually doing raids, as it will take you a month (well, 30 days) of doing only daily random heroic 5-man dungeons. But presumably, your tier gear will stick with you straight through to patch 4.1 once you get it (or at least until you have a chance to upgrade it with heroic Tier gear by getting an Essence of the Forlorn drop). Notably, as mentioned earlier, even if your guild progresses very quickly, and it turns out you can get the head and shoulder token drops quickly, you will still need to use use your Valor Points for at least two pieces of tier gear to get to your 4-piece bonus.

Vexryn's option #3: The Ring of the Battle Anthem (ring) deserves a special mention, because the Bile-O-Tron Nut is not very well itemized for us (lacking mastery, and having threat stats) and also drops late in Blackwing Descent (from Chimaeron) so you may not see it for a while, and probably should let another tank get it anyway. Thus, the Valor point ring will likely stay with you for a long time and makes a worthwhile investment, espeecially when paired with an avoidance/mastery ring you may get from Conclave in Throne of the Four Winds (once you get a Permafrost Signet that drops with the right stats).

After you're starting to raid actively, and getting some raid gear and token drops, you'll probably want to use Valor Points to continue filling out Tier 11 (if you got your Hardened Elementium Hauberk crafted or bought an Icebone Hauberk, you'll probably do Tier 11 gloves and legs first, and the chest last), and to fill in the holes for any gear that just won't drop for you.

The remaining Valor Point options - the Bedrock Talisman trinket, the Floating Web and Gray Hair Cloak back pieces, and the Rock Furrow Boots should all be skipped. You have better boot and back options from rep gear (discussed below), and there are other ways to get trinkets (and by the time you're raiding, you'll have much better trinket options to shoot for).

Crafted Gear and BoE EpicsGiven the fact that all "starter epics" are i359 and are basically starter raid quality, investing in epics is going to be an expensive but good investment. Ultimately, though, you have a few epics to choose from.

Your crafted options include three pieces of Blacksmith crafted gear, the Hardened Elementium Hauberk chest, Hardened Elementium Girdle waist, and the Elementium Earthguard shield. However, there is a very significant complication: the crafted gear requires several Chaos Orbs, and they are Bind-on-Pickup! Which means there are only two ways to get this gear; either you are the Blacksmith, you grind heroics to drop the required Chaos Orbs, and you craft the gear... or you wait until other Blacksmiths on your server have gotten their own Chaos Orbs (that they don't want to use for themselves), and offer to pay them for crafting gear with your mats plus their Chaos Orbs. Given that Cataclysm has been out for a while, you should be able to find Blacksmiths with Orbs available on your server though, so just expect to pay for some Orbs as a part of the cost of getting the gear. It may still be cheaper than other epic options, and is still a pretty good investment.

So how do you prioritize this long list of epics? Here's the skinny on each one:- For your chest, Hardened Elementium Hauberk is a fine option, but Icebone Hauberk is much better itemized, with fewer "wasted" points in strength, and fewer points dumped into threat stats. The latter will likely be more expensive and a bit harder to come by on your server, but will last you a lot longer; it's a much more effective piece, and you won't replace it until you get your Tier 11 piece (and you'll probably buy the chest last), or at least drop Battleplate of the Apocalypse from Cho'gall. So the chest is a pretty worthwhile investment; and if you can afford the higher price, go for the Icebone Hauberk over the Hardened Elementium Hauberk.- In the chest slot, again you have two choices: Elementium Earthguard from the Blacksmiths, or Blockade's Lost Shield as a world epic drop. Here, again, the itemization makes Blockade's Lost Shield a clear winner, although expect to pay a markup for it over the more easily obtained crafted shield. Notably, though, Blockade's Lost Shield is even better itemized than Akmin-Kura, Dominion's Shield (thanks to the higher mastery), which means until you're 12/12 HEROIC and killing Heroic Nefarian, you will not replace Blockade's Lost Shield. This one is definitely worth the investment to buy the epic world drop, even more so than the chest.- You also have two shoulder choices: Pauldrons of Edward the Odd or Heaving Plates of Protection. They're both incredibly well itemized (even more so than your Reinforced Sapphirium Shoulderguards Tier 11, so these are worth the investment. Their itemization is close enough to each other, though, that you should probably just buy whichever is cheaper and available, and don't worry so much about one versus the other. This piece will stick with you; and if you can get a pair early after hitting level 85, you can redirect an early Justice Point buy to something besides the shoulders.- As with many other slots, you also have two cloak options: Zom's Electrostatic Cloak and Ironstar's Impenetrable Cover. This one is pretty easy: skip them both. Given the value of mastery for us, Wrap of the Great Turtle is your #1 choice short of heroic raiding gear, and you can pick it up "easily" by just grinding out Exalted reputation with the Guardians of Hyjal (and if you leveled in Hyjal Summit, you're probably already into Revered). So don't bother buying a cloak; you have better places to spend your hard-won gold.- Unlike the Blacksmith crafted chest and shield discussed above, the Hardened Elementium Girdle is your only pre-raid epic belt choice, and it's very nicely itemized. This one is definitely viable if you have the gold to spend. The only reason you might hesitate is that your other two belt options - Jumbotron Power Belt and Thunder Wall Belt - both drop very early in raid progression, with the former from Omnotron in Blackwing Descent and the latter from Conclave in Throne of the Four Winds. These will likely be some of the very first bosses you kill. So if you're trying to save a little gold, spend on pieces that will last longer - like Blockade's Lost Shield - and go for a raid drop on the waist slot. Girdle of the Mountains from Justice Points can be a decent filler until then (no mastery, but at least it's all avoidance), and there are some heroic 5-man dungeon drops too.- Given the lack of starter tank weapon choices - you'll have to wait for something good to drop for you - those with big gold to spend might consider Soul Blade. The itemization is reasonable, with a good chunk of mastery, and you can reforge the hit to an avoidance stat. Your best alternative (in fact, an upgrade by itemization) is Mace of Acrid Death which drops from Maloriak, the third boss in Blackwing Descent, so some people will hold out for that. Especially since the Soul Blade may be the most expensive epic you see, due to the fact that many dps warriors will also be buying it, pushing up the competition and the price. If you've really got gold to burn, this sword is reasonable, but I wouldn't rank it too high compared to some of the earlier options if you have a limited budget.

Your one remaining epic BoE of note is the Darkmoon Card: Earthquake trinket. This trinket has proven to be one of the least popular Darkmoon options, and may be fairly reasonably priced on your server. It's not a great piece, but the avoidance is nice given Wrath mechanics, and it may be helpful early on while gearing up. It's probably not worth spending heavily on, and you may prefer to just wait for some trinkets to drop, but this is a reasonable investment. And you may still use it on some fights where avoidance really shines, like Chimaeron.

Past the long list of epics, many of the crafted i346 rares are still worth considering. You'll probably want to skip the Elementium Guardian Jewelcrafting neck, as The Lustrous Eye is far better itemized and only 1250 Justice Points. I would also pass on the Elementium Moebius Band ring, as there are numerous options for drops, an opportunity for an i346 ring from Ramkahen reputation (see below), and you will be purchasing the Valor Point ring as well. The Twilight Dragonscale Cloak Leatherworking back is also a maybe at best, as you should replace it quickly anyway with Wrap of the Great Turtle. However, all of these items may be decent and "not too terribly expensive" options if you're just trying to gear up initially to even be viable FOR heroic 5-mans.

The slightly more appealing option for blue crafted gear is the inscription Notched Jawbone Libram/Relic, as a stop-gap until you get your Best-in-Slot Relic of Khaz-Goroth with Valor Points. However, you may also consider the lower level Etched Horn is a viable filler until the epic Relic as well (especially if you plan to buy the epic Relic first, after just 10 days of daily random heroics). Or if you're lucky, you'll get a Stalagmite Dragon, but don't count on it.

On a final note, there are a few profession-only choices of note. Engineers may consider the Reinforced Bio-Optic Killshades as their starting epic, in lieu of the Justice Point or i346 rare quality alternatives that drop in heroics. Alchemists will almost certainly want to start out with their profession-only epic trinket, the Lifebound Alchemist Stone. And Jewelcrafters will almost definitely want to start out using their Figurine - Earthen Guardian profession-only trinket.

WeaponsA special mention for weapons. All viable level 85 weapons drop in instances. Period. There are 6 options scattered around amongst 5 instances; notably, Heroic Deadmines has two different tank weapons, but those weapons are the only tank drops in Deadmines. Take whatever drops for you first, unless you want to drop big gold on a Soul Blade. Good luck.

Instances To RunPre-HeroicsYour primary three pre-heroics instances will be Halls of Origination, Grim Batol, and the Lost City of the Tol'vir. All are level 84 instances, and the bosses drop ilvl 333 rare quality blues, your stepping stone to being geared enough for heroics.

Notably, Halls of Origination is especially lucrative, with a whopping 8 tank drops in various gear slots; expect to run this a lot. Grim Batol offers a number of appealing drops as well. The Lost City only has a waist and ring, and given that you will probably be crafting the Blacksmith's Hardened Elementium Girdle early on, and that other rings can be obtained as easy drops or from rep, you might skip the Lost City altogether.

HeroicsFor those who have time, you will likely be running random heroics as much as possible, primarily to grind reputation wearing tabards and to get big Justice Points for i346 gear; make sure you do at least your heroic random daily though, to get your 70 Valor Points. Given that you "only" get 70 Justice Points as a bonus after doing the first daily random, though, you may consider targeting specific instances after the first random, as specific gear drops will be more appealing than just another 70 Justice Points (given 210-350 points per instance already, depending on the number of bosses). In terms of specific instances to choose from, here are some highlights:- As with regular instances, Heroic Halls of Origination is your top choice for overall gear drops, with a TON of drop tanks. Vortex Pinnacle and Grim Batol also contain a large number of drops.- The Stonecore will be a popular choice for heroics; it has an i346 libram if you don't choose the Notched Jawbone inscription one and haven't bought the Relic of Khaz-Goroth with Valor Points yet. Stonecore also sports the Leaden Despair, your only trinket with stamina outside of profession-only trinkets (Figurine - Earthen Guardian for Jewelcrafters and Lifebound Alchemist Stone for Alchemists). The Stonecore also offers the most appealing tank weapon (Elementium Fang is your only avoidance/mastery itemized tank weapon for i346), and another tank ring option.- Heroic Shadowfang Keep gives a few useful choices. 4 tank drops overall: Waist, Wrist, Gloves, and Boots. Although you probably won't need the waist due to the Blacksmith crafted one, the others are good fillers while gearing up.- At the other end of the spectrum is Deadmines; the only tank drops are weapons, although at least there are two choices for tankadins. Nonetheless, given the availability of weapon drops in other heroics (including a weapon in EACH of the three above), and the lack of ANY other tank drops in Deadmines, you might skip this one except for nostalgia's sake or getting it as a random.- Blackrock Caverns is also low on your priority list. It drops a chest, but you'll probably buy the Justice Point one first. It drops a cloak, but you'll likely have the Leatherworking one already, and you're grinding for the Hyjal exalted cloak early on. It does drop a shield, but again there are many other choices; our other i346 shield drop comes from Halls of Origination, which you should basically plan to run every day for a long time, but in fact buying Blockade's Lost Shield may be one of your best epic investments anyway and makes shield drops a moot point (not to mention saving you from spending 950 Justice Points to buy a shield from the vendor).- Throne of the Tides and the Lost City of the Tol'vir are also only 'meh' choices. The Lost City gives only a belt and a ring; but you'll probably have the crafted belt and there are other ring options. Throne of the Tides isn't much better, with another ring, and some legs that you probably won't need if you bought the Justice Point legs already. Some tanks will try Throne of the Tides for the viable Porcelain Crab tank trinket, though.

Bringing It All TogetherSo what will it look like when it all comes together? Something like this:

Due to popular request, I am extending this gear list to include all of the relevant tank gems and enchants for Cataclysm as well. This is not intended as a guide for gear and enchant decisions, but merely a list of all the relevant gem/enchant options.

GemsAs with Wrath, the gems of Cataclysm will all be rare (blue) quality gems initially. The only epic gems will be the special Chimera's Eye Jewelcrafter-only gems (requires Jewelcrafting 500+). Anticipate a future patch (4.1?) to expand gem options to epics.

The list of gems here include gems that may be relevant both for threat or survival purposes, but I have broken them into those categories. Accordingly, all gems are listed as (at least partially) threat gems if they contain one or more of the following: Strength, Hit, or Expertise. If the gems have only Mastery, Dodge, Parry, or Stamina, they are shown as survival.

Note that for all gem details, the rare quality version of the gem is shown. If you are looking for the less expensive uncommon version of the gem, it's the same first-word prefix. For instance, the rare stamina gem is Solid Ocean Sapphire, while the uncommon version is Solid Zephyrite.

Basic Gemming StrategyAssuming you are gearing for general survival, expect Solid Ocean Sapphire to still be the gold standard of gemming for blue slots, and Jewelcrafters will almost certainly still target using three Solid Chimera's Eye gems in blue slots.

Given the historical value of Stamina, some tanks may choose to go this way across the board. Those who wish to at least use hybrid gems will likely consider Defender's Demonseye for red slots in lieu of straight parry gemming. Yellow slots provide more options though. Given the presence of both dodge and mastery anchored to the yellow socket color, consider both the dodge/stamina Regal Dream Emerald as well as the mastery/stamina Puissant Dream Emerald. Effective health tanks will also likely choose the classic stamina/armor meta gem of Austere Shadowspirit Diamond, although perhaps as mastery levels climb the appeal of the stamina/block value Eternal Shadowspirit Diamond may grow.

Tanks who decide to push hard for stacking mastery towards the block cap may focus on full mastery gemming with Fractured Amberjewel for 40 mastery, or even the Jewelcrafter's Fractured Chimera's Eye +67 mastery if eligible. Mastery stackers may also be very interested in the Fine Ember Topaz orange gem (mastery/parry) to fill their red slots, and even Puissant Dream Emerald mastery/stamina gems for blue slots. In addition, mastery-stacking tanks may also consider the Fleet Shadowspirit Diamond mastery meta gem; notably, though, the minor run speed increase will not stack with the Pursuit of Justice talent, so at the least mastery-stacking tanks with a Fleet Shadowspirit Diamond should be certain not to "waste" overlapping talent points.

EnchantsBoth survival and threat enchants below are included in a single list. In some cases, there is a "lesser" and "greater" version of the enchant; in such cases, both are shown. In general, enchants are color coded based on their relative cost; less expensive enchants (generally requiring lower levels of Enchanting) are green, while the higher level enchants are blue. Enchants from other sources - reputation, crafted professions, etc. - are also noted where applicable.

ProfessionsWith the latest changes, professions are more even than ever in the buffs that they provide classes. However, not all professions are the same value for tanks. Below is a list of the profession-ONLY gear and item enhancements available and relevant for tanks.

Although Alchemy does not provide direct item enhancement buffs, it does provide a highly effective starting epic trinket for level 85 tanks; it is one of the few +stamina trinkets available, and should be relevant throughout the first tier of dungeons. However, once patch 4.1 is released and a new tier level of trinkets arrive, it is likely that the Lifebound Alchemist Stone will become much less relevant.

The increased flask duration benefit of Mixology is nice to have, but technically just saves on flask costs; it is not a direct buff. However, the increased benefit of flasks and elixirs that Mixology provides puts it on par with most other professions. A blue post hotfix confirms that the benefit for the Flask of Steelskin will be +120 Stamina (+40%); it remains to be seen if all flasks and elixirs will enjoy a comparable +40% buff from Mixology.

Blacksmithing continues to provide two free sockets - one to bracers and one to gloves - in addition to whatever sockets are/are not already on those pieces of gear. Given the current availability of Solid Ocean Sapphire to fill those slots, Blacksmithing is effectively worth +120 Stamina of class-specific buffs.

It's also worth noting that the Chaos Orbs used for crafted Blacksmith gear are BoP; accordingly, if you really want to gear up fast using crafted epics and not buy another Blacksmith's Chaos Orbs, you might consider being a Blacksmith. It's not quite a profession-only epic, though.

Enchanters continue to receive the unique benefit of being able to enchant their own rings. Assuming the tank-standard Enchant Ring - Greater Stamina is selected for each of two rings, Enchanters will receive +120 Stamina for their class-specific buff, directly in line with Blacksmithing.

Masters of inscription once again receive a unique shoulder buff, that is beneficial both for the sheer magnitude of the buff it provides, and also because it obviates the need to grind Therazane Exalted reputation for the otherwise-tank-standard Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz. Given the +75 Stamina buff of Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz and the +195 Stamina buff from the Inscription shoulder enchants (both provide +25 Dodge), Inscription is another profession that offers a +120 Stamina buff, in line with the Blacksmiths and Enchanters. On the plus side, only Inscription eliminates the need for a rep grind.

As with Wrath, the Jewelcrafters will once again benefit from the use of up to 3 class-only Chimera's Eye gems to replace standard gems. Given the opportunity to use three Solid Chimera's Eye for +101 Stamina each, in lieu of the otherwise-tank-standard Solid Ocean Sapphire and its +60 Stamina, the net benefit of Jewelcrafting is to upgrade by +41 Stamina for three gem sockets, for a total of 3 x 41 = +123 Stamina. This puts Jewelcrafting in line with several other professions, although notably it is +3 Stamina ahead of the relatively standard +120 Stamina that many other professions offer.

In another repeat from Wrath, the Cataclysm Leatherworker will have the opportunity for a profession-only wrist enchant that overwrites whatever other wrist enchant would have applied. Notably, though the Leatherworking enchant is unique, in that the +195 Stamina from Draconic Embossment - Stamina is NOT an upgrade from another Stamina bracer enchant. Currently, the only other survival bracer enchant in Cataclysm is Enchant Bracer - Dodge for +50 Dodge. Accordingly, for tanks who truly wish to stack Stamina/Effective Health, Leatherworking offers a unique +195 Stamina enchant, or what would still be a +155 Stamina buff over the Wrath's Enchant Bracer - Major Stamina. It remains to be seen whether Blizzard will add what appears to be "missing" - a +75 Stamina Cataclysm wrist enchant that would put the value of the Draconic Embossment - Stamina at +120 Stamina, in line with other professions.

True to its history as well, Skinning continues to provide a +Crit buff; the Cataclysm version of Master of Anatomy is a whopping +80 worth of it. However, this is the only relevant buff to tanks from Skinning, and it is at best a very modest threat buff given the limited value of Crit; there is no survival-related tank buff from Skinning. Accordingly, Skinning will not likely be a popular choice for many tankadins.

TailoringNone

Consistent with its history, Tailors in Cataclysm receive an array of profession-only cloak enchants. However, they are all caster or dps related; there are no relevant Tailoring-only tank cloak enchants at this time, making Tailoring a rather unpopular tank selection.

Last edited by vexryn on Sat Apr 30, 2011 5:41 am, edited 25 times in total.

You completely forgot about one faction: The Eathen Ring. Their quests located in Vashj'ir and they give us our head enchant: Arcanum of the Earthen Ring. I think, that grinding thier rep all the way till Revered should be our first priority.

You completely forgot about one faction: The Eathen Ring. Their quests located in Vashj'ir and they give us our head enchant: Arcanum of the Earthen Ring. I think, that grinding thier rep all the way till Revered should be our first priority.

Seigert,Thanks for the notes about this. You're right, I didn't have these on my radar screen at all. I'll add a section about enchants to incorporate this. As for priority itself, we'll have to see. I might try to pop Therazane up to Honored at least (I have no clue how close you get from 81-85 questing alone?), but I will probably save the Earthen Ring grind for slightly later. The enchants are big, but get the big pieces of gear in place is higher priority for me, at least at this point. Of course, that may shift once we see how 5-man grinding really goes, and either way I'll grant it's just my opinion.

And to everyone, if there is other stuff that I missed, please keep it coming. I've been filling in other pieces as information becomes available, but want this to be as useful of a comprehensive list/guide/summary as possible!~Vex

Vexryn wrote:Seigert,Thanks for the notes about this. You're right, I didn't have these on my radar screen at all. I'll add a section about enchants to incorporate this. As for priority itself, we'll have to see. I might try to pop Therazane up to Honored at least (I have no clue how close you get from 81-85 questing alone?), but I will probably save the Earthen Ring grind for slightly later. The enchants are big, but get the big pieces of gear in place is higher priority for me, at least at this point. Of course, that may shift once we see how 5-man grinding really goes, and either way I'll grant it's just my opinion.

And to everyone, if there is other stuff that I missed, please keep it coming. I've been filling in other pieces as information becomes available, but want this to be as useful of a comprehensive list/guide/summary as possible!~Vex

Vexryn has compiled a very handy list of gear that is useful to all of us as we plan for Cata. Listing where/how tanking items are obtained is providing factual information which I thank him for since I neither have access to the beta nor the time to sit down and look all of this up by myself. If you think that the subjective part of his post where he gives advice on which gear path to take is incorrect, you could provide alternatives without trying to depreciate his efforts.I wouldn't care if he only plays a shaman, much less what he gems in his tanking gear since it's pretty irrelevant to which faction gives me tanking boots. Thanks Vex for all the hard work.

This thread is A++ awesome. A query though - will we need to purchase enchants for pre-heroics blues in order to survive them? I'm not really looking forward to the expense of having to enchant my stuff three times over. :X

This thread is A++ awesome. A query though - will we need to purchase enchants for pre-heroics blues in order to survive them? I'm not really looking forward to the expense of having to enchant my stuff three times over. :X

Brightsong,Not really clear at this point, and I can't say I had much of any experience on Beta with this.

I'm working on the enchant list right now and hope to have something up in the next 24 hours or so.

I would expect that you will need to enchant your gear. The sheer magnitude of the enchants - even the basic ones - really add up tremendously.

That being said, I believe that, as with Wrath, there are "basic" and "high end" versions of most enchants. You'll likely want to do the basic version on blue gear, where you get "most" of the value but don't pay a lot extra for that last little bit.

Depending on where heroics and early raids are tuned, though, you may decide even the high end enchants are worth it. We'll know a lot more in 2 weeks.

I have deleted and amended several posts because it is frankly stupid to be having an argument about soon to be old content in what is a very useful and current thread. I don't care what people get up to in the rest of the forum, the gear forum is looked at by a huge amount of people and I won't have people bickering in this forum so if you have a problem with someone you take it to PM's.

I hope that is crystal clear for everyone.

Carry on the good work in this thread.

Barathorn

Sabindeus wrote:I feel like I should get a t-shirt made for me that says "Not Socially Awkward, Just Fat".

Indeed Icecole, thanks for the heads-up on a few mis-matched links and such.

I think I've gotten the list almost entirely "cleaned up" of little typos and errors that inevitably come when capturing this much information, but if anyone finds anything else missing/erroneous/etc., please let me know! I want this to be as accurate and thorough as possible!